And the Curse of Calypso
by kingdomkeepers365
Summary: When a banquet held in Athens appears in all of the clippings books, the LITs know its time to investigate. Only thing is, this banquet is for couples only, forcing two friends into a position that brings them both emotions they fear. Jassandra. Based off of the new set pics where the LITs are dressed fancily. Rated T for minor adult language and themes.


**A/N: Yay I'm really excited to write this! I first had this idea when the set pictures of everyone dressed up all fancy came out and I was overanalyzing things of course. I'm so excited about the Jassandra possibilities that these pics are presenting. Anyway, I've been working on this chapter for a few days and was finally able to finish it. Enjoy!**

Jake, Cassandra and Ezekiel all rushed into the Library at the same time. They had called each other and agreed to meet there. Their clippings book had all showed the same mission, which meant that it must have been important.

"So what is it exactly we're looking for?" Ezekiel asked, wasting no time.

"Not exactly sure" Jake answered.

"The clippings book just gave us a place to go to, not any detail. It just mentioned some banquet that this rich lady is having in Athens" Cassie explained.

Jake smiled at her, and she returned the gesture shyly. The two hadn't seen each other in a few months, as Jake had gone to spend some time with his family. It had been a while since they decided to team up on a case.

"It's good to see you Cassie" Jake whispered.

"It's good to see you too Jake" Cassie hoped that she wasn't blushing, which she was. Averting her eyes, she looked down at the clippings book, hoping to get back on topic quickly.

"So how are we getting into this banquet then?" Ezekiel asked. "Do you need me to break in?" He sounded way too excited about the idea.

"Maybe we could call Colonel Baird" Cassandra suggested. "I'm sure she could get us in"

"Na. The fact that she and Flynn aren't here right now probably means that they're on some other case." Jake added. "Besides, we ask them for help too much. Let's prove that we can do this on our own."

"Ya" Jones chimed. "They _could_ be working another case _. Or_ they could be busy with…other activities"

"Really?!" Jake shouted.

"What?"

"That's an image none of us needed" Cassandra squeaked, squirming and scrunching up her nose. Jake tried not to laugh. She looked adorable when she did that.

"Anyway" Jake continued "We don't need Baird to get us in. I did my research and found out that it's a banquet for people who donated to this lady's charity for widowed women. I talked to Charlene yesterday and we found some money in the budget to make a donation in the Library's name"

"Okay" Cassie agreed "But there's one problem?"

"What's that?"

"I researched the banquet as well, and it's for couples only, which seems odd considering what the charity is"

"Oh great" Ezekiel snarked. "Now what are we going to do."

"Well actually" Jake replied "I knew about that already, and I have a plan. I was thinking that you, Jones, could go undercover: as a waiter."

"What?!" the thief protested. "Why do I have to work if you two are going to be living it up at the party?"

"Because with all the crimes you've committed, you owe humanity a service. Besides, it'll make the most sense, considering how young you are, and we could use someone sneaky behind the scenes."

"Alright now I like the sound of it"

Jake sighed. Across the table, Cassandra was barely breathing. If she was putting all of the details together correctly, which she always did, then Jake had just suggested something she thought she's never hear him say. She wasn't even sure she wanted to hear him say it.

"Wait" she asked. "Jake, if you and I are going to represent the Library as guests, does that mean we're going to be…"

"Going as a couple?" the cowboy interjected. He wanted to kick himself for his choice of words. He should have suggested that they were pretending. "Going" as a couple seemed too forward. "I'm sure we could make it work" In his head, he was slapping a hand to his face. In attempting to make the situation better, he was sure he had only made it worse.

"Ya" Cassandra muttered softly. "Ok"

She wondered what Jake was thinking. This was probably just an act to him. They acted and lied every day in this job, but this was much more than an act to her. This was going to be the most difficult case they had ever faced. There she would be the whole night, on Jake's arm, not knowing what was real and what was fake. Would he wish it was a reality? Would she?

At the same time, Jake was afraid. He was afraid of what else he would say, what he would do. How would he handle being so close to the only person he'd ever trusted, and knowing that nothing he could do would matter. An act: that's all this was, all it was supposed to be. Still, he could not ignore the flutter in his heart, and the uncertainty of what was to come.

* * *

An hour later, the LITs were scattered around the Library, rushing to prepare to attend the banquet that night. Jake spotted Cassandra walking down the stairs.

"Cassie!" he called. She turned around.

"Ya Jake?"

"What-what are you wearing tonight."

"I actually don't know yet. Why?"

"Well I was just thinkin'….you know….just to make things more realistic…I mean maybe I should match the color of your dress."

"Right. To make it more realistic" Jake nodded. Cassie stared at the floor.

"Well" she finally continued. "I was actually just heading to my room to pick something out. Maybe you could help me?"

"Sure" Jake agreed. "That would be uh…great…good…um, realistic"

"Right. I'll see you upstairs?"

"Ya"

* * *

A half an hour later, Jake sat on Cassandra's bed. The room was a mess, dresses were flung everywhere. For some reason, she wasn't satisfied with anything that she put on. He thought she looked beautiful in everything.

"How many dresses do you have Cassandra?" he asked. She had to have tried on at least fifteen dresses by now, and those were just the fancy ones.

"A lot" Cassie answered, poking her head out from the screen that she was changing behind. "But this is the last one, so let's hope it's a winner."

Slowly, Cassandra walked out into the room. More so than ever, she took Jake's breath away. The final dress was green, with a scoop neckline, hugging her tightly and cutting off just below her knees.

"Wow" he gasped

"You like it?" she asked shyly.

"Cassie it's…you look…wow" Cassanda blushed, looking away from the cowboy who she secretly adored.

"So is this the one?"

"Well if you like it then I'd say so. And I have a green shirt in my closet right now."

"Perfect, then it's settled."

"Well" Jake said, standing up. "I should go now, let you get ready"

"Wait!" Cassie called just as he reached the door. "Could I ask you something?"

"Anything" Jake replied. He could never bring himself to deny her anything, especially not in that dress.

"There's probably going to be dancing at this banquet right?" she sounded mortified.

"I'd assume so ya" Jake chuckled.

"You see, the thing is, I've never slow danced with anyone before and…well I'm not sure I know how"

Jake gulped. He wanted to help Cassandra, to teach her what to do. Someone had to. She deserved that. The idea of being that close to her though, scared the life out of him. He knew he had feelings for her, though he didn't like to admit it to himself. Being that close to her, the challenge not to say something would be greater.

Still, the same feelings that scared him were the ones that allowed him to move forward. She meant so much to him, he wanted to give her everything that he possibly could.

"Well it's pretty simple" he began, walking towards her. "First I would uh, put my hand around your waist" His heart stopped as he was holding her, his most secret desires becoming a reality.

"And then you would put your hand on my shoulder" He hoped that she didn't notice how his voice was shaking, or how his hand trembled as he took hers and brought it up to touch him.

Cassandra was silent, beginning to regret asking Jake the question on her mind, wondering why she was so impulsive. They were close all the time. He caught her when she fell, and she found herself often standing inches away from him, but this was different.

An embrace like this had meaning. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and she could feel what it might have been like if she had never….

The next thing she knew Jake had grabbed her other hand, lacing his fingers through his.

"Then we just grab hands" he whispered "and hold our arms just like this"

The room had grown quiet. Their voices were hushed, they barely breathed.

"Then you just walk around, however you want really" Jake could barely be heard now. Hesitantly, he began to move Cassandra around the room.

The silence weighed down on Cassandra like she was underwater. She could barely breathe, and she had lost all sense of everything around her except for Jake. She tried her best not to cry, knowing that this was all an act to him. Nothing could happen, despite the fact that she wanted to stay like this forever.

Jake stared into Cassandra's blue eyes, growing dizzier by the second. How could he feel this way? There could never be a romantic future for them; he had thrown away that opportunity a long time ago. Still he could not ignore the desire inside of him to pull Cassie close and kiss her, right there. But this wasn't real to her. It was just for show, just as they had agreed.

A good thirty seconds went by before either Librarian realized that they had stopped moving, and were simply looking at each other.

"I should start getting ready" Cassandra whispered, shying away, removing herself from Jake's embrace.

"Ya" he agreed. "Uh…me too"

For the second time that afternoon, Jake began to exit Cassandra's room and found himself unable to leave. Thinking briefly about what he could say, he turned towards the girl, who was still standing, frozen still.

"I'll uh, I'll see you tonight" he quavered.

"What?" Cassandra asked, finally looking up from the floor. "Oh. Yeah"

Then, the room was empty, silent once again. Cassandra still stood in the same place. She couldn't have feelings for Jake could she? He didn't trust her, and you couldn't have a relationship without trust. She had made her peace with that a while ago. They were friends, she was okay with that.

Though if that was true, then why did she feel a whole new kind of magic when they danced together?


End file.
